Two special chemicals can stop certain viruses from growing in lab tests by messing up how the viruses build their parts, which might help fight these types of viruses.

Two chemicals, pyrithione and hinokitiol, can fight certain viruses by needing zinc helpers to work, and they do this by raising zinc levels inside cells—a new way to stop these viruses.

These two chemicals help zinc quickly get inside cells and go to specific spots like mitochondria. This temporary zinc boost is what makes them fight certain viruses.